Tesla Supercharge station under construction in Worthington; first in state

Published by jwettschreck on Thursday, November 14th, 2013

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WORTHINGTON – Back in the south corner of the Ground Round parking lot, construction is underway on something that will be the first of its kind on the state of Minnesota. A Tesla Supercharger station with several stalls is being built.

The Tesla Model S automobile, voted the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year, can travel approximately 200 miles on a battery charge. A Supercharger is a fast-charge station capable of delivering up to 50 percent battery capacity to Model S in about 20 minutes, roughly 16 times faster than most public charging stations. The stations allow Model S owners to pull up, plug in their car, grab some lunch and get back on the road.

Last summer, Tesla contacted the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corporation about putting a Supercharger station in the area. WREDC Manager Abraham Algadi said representatives visited several sites, eventually making arrangements with the Ground round owners. A building permit was filed with the city of Worthington last month.

The permit describes the work as the installation of an electric vehicle charging station consisting of eight stations. Located nearby will be four Supercharger cabinets and a switchgear assembly surrounded by a wooden fence. A utility transformer will be placed on a concrete pad near the equipment enclosure.

Tesla completed its first major corridor last week, enabling Model S drivers to travel from San Diego to Vancouver on power supplied purely by its supercharger network. Expansions of the company's East Coast network should allow travel between Boston and Miami by the end of the year. While the Supercharger stations are more prevalent on the East and West Coast, the company expects all of the United States to be covered by the end of next year, and says use of the network will be free forever.

A second Supercharger station is planned in Albert Lea, and coast to coast travel should be possible by the end of the year, according to a map of current and future stations. Over time, Tesla plans to add solar canopies to all Supercharger stations. There is no word yet on when the Worthington Supercharger will open. A call to Tesla was not returned.